SrXTY-FOUftTH CONGRESS. FIRST SESSION 



HOUSE DOCUMENT I8M 



EXERCISES 

ATTENDING THE UNVEILING OF THE 

Statuary of the Pediment of 

the House Wing of the United States 

Capitol Building 



WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 2, 1916 
10.30 A. M. 




A«eu8T 30, 1916. — Ordered to be printed, with illustrations 



WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1916 



Sixty-Fourth Congress, First Session House Document 1354 



EXERCISES ATTENDING THE 

UNVEILING OF THE STATUARY OF THE 

PEDIMENT OF THE HOUSE WING 

OF THE UNITED STATES 

CAPITOL BUILDING 



WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 2, 1916 
10.30 A. M. 



August 30, 1916. — Ordered to be printed, with illustrations 



WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1916 






HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, UNITED STATES 

COMMITTEE ON THE LIBRARY 

SIXTY-FOURTH CONGRESS 



James Iv. SIvAyden, Texas, Chairman 
Frank Clark, Florida 
Thomas G. Patten, New York 
William B. McKinley, Illinois 
Edward W. Gray, New Jersey 

Chester Harrison, Clerk 



D. Of D. 
NOV CD 1916 



^ 



o 



RESOLUTION 

N Thursday, July 27, 191 6, the following resolution, 
introduced by Mr. SiyAYDEN, chairman of the Com- 
mittee on the Library, was agreed to: 



Resolved, That the Committee on the Library shall arrange for appro- 
priate exercises at the unveiling of the pediment on the east front of the 
House wing of the Capitol at 10.30 o'clock a. m., Wednesday, August 2; 
and be it further 

Resolved, That the Members of the Senate be invited to be present at 
the exercises. 



ORDER OF EXERCISES 

Music United States Marine Band 

W. H. Santelmann, Director 

Invocation Rev. Henry N. Couden, D. D. 

Chaplain, United States House of Representatives 

Address Hon. James L. Slayden, M. C. 

Chairman, House Committee on Library 
and Member of Commission 

UnvEiung of the Statuary - Accompanied by Music by the 

United States Marine Band 

Address Paul W. Bartlett 

Sculptor of the Pediment Statuary 

Address Hon. Champ Clark 

Speaker, United States House of Representatives 
Chairman of the Commission 

Benediction ... - Rev. Forrest J. Prettyman, D. D. 

Chaplain, United States Senate 

Music United States Marine Band 

3 



PROCEEDINGS AT THE UNVEILING 

7 

59203°— H. Doc. 1354. 64-1—2 



ADDRESS OF HON. JAMES L. SLAYDEN 

OF TEXAS 

Ladies and Gentlemen: 

I AM this morning in receipt of a telegram from the former 
chairman of the House Committee on the Library, the 
gentleman who proposed the appropriation for the pro- 
curement of this statuary. I will read his telegram to you : 

Boston, Mass., August i, igi6. 
Hon. James L. Slayden, 

Committee on the Library, 

House of Representatives , Washington, D. C: 
Only just received your letter. Greatly regret can not be present at 
unveiling of statuary in House pediment. I take great pride in having 
been impressed with something very obvious and introducing a bill for 
statuary for the House pediment which had been overlooked for over half 
a century, and am also glad I was able to help in securing services of 
Mr. Bartlett. I congratulate you that you are about to unveil what I 
think is the finest large statuary group in America. If I had known 
earlier of the unveiling, I should have come to Washington to witness it. 
With thanks for your thought in inviting me to be present, 

Samuel W. McCall. 

The original members of the commission for procuring statu- 
ary for the pediment of the House wing of the Capitol were the 
then Speaker, Joseph G. Cannon, of Illinois; Senators George 
P. Wetmore, of Rhode Island; Henry C. Hansbrough, of North 
Dakota; Frank O. Briggs, of New Jersey; John W. Daniel, of 
Virginia; Francis G. Newlands, of Nevada; and Representa- 
tives Samuel W. McCall, of Massachusetts; James P. Connor, 
of Iowa; Edward L. Hamilton, of Michigan; William M. How- 
ard, of Georgia; and Charles R. Thomas, of North Carolina. 
Associated with them was Elliott Woods, then and now the 
efficient Superintendent of the Capitol. [Applause.] 

Unfortunately some of these distinguished gentlemen did not 
live to see the fruit of their labors, but, like the fathers who 
selected the architect of the Capitol, they exercised good 
judgment, and perhaps builded better than they knew. 

9 



10 Unveiling of the Statuary of the Pediment 

The act by which this work was authorized was approved 
April 1 6, 1908, and to us Americans, with our unmatched genius 
for hurry, eight years seem a long time to wait. But we should 
try to realize that the creative artist can not get inspiration by 
contract, nor, like the handicraftsman, work his eight hours a 
day, six days in the week, and do his best, and since seeing 
the satisfactory result of Mr. Bartlett's labors I am glad that 
he was given all the time he needed. 

If Rome had been built in a day, it would not have remained 
to be the wonder and delight of the centuries. "Our little 
systems have their day," governments rise and fall, customs 
change, and races supersede one another, but true art alone, 
especially that of the sculptor and architect, survives un- 
changing and a joy forever, its beauty increasing with its age. 

I suppose there are still a few people who believe that such 
an investment as this is a waste of public money, people who 
mistake crudeness and bareness for the noble simplicity that 
should characterize a democracy. They seem to resent beauty 
and dignity in public buildings that house the legislative and 
executive bodies of the Government. 

But that is not true of the people, and if any such Philistines 
remain they should stand for an hour on this plaza and observe 
their wondering and delighted fellow countrymen when view- 
ing the Capitol for the first time. In their glowing faces one 
can read pride of ownership and pleasure in its magnificence. 
[Applause.] 

After seeing that I am sure they would never again complain 
of its cost. These travelers take away with them an apprecia- 
tion and heightened standard of beauty that will bring forth 
fruit according to its kind in many a town and village remote 
from the Capitol. 

This pediment seems to me a fitting adornment of one of the 
greatest buildings ever constructed. Every American is justly 
proud of this temple of democracy, open to all the people all 
the time, and into which his prayers and his commands never 
fail to penetrate no matter what critics may say to the con- 
trary. No decoration is too noble for it, nothing is too good for 
the people of our Republic, to whose use this house is conse- 
crated and whose taste it reflects. 



of the House Wing, United States Capitol 1 1 

Beauty has its value, its moral, economic, and intellectual 
value. It is easier to sin amid ugliness than when surrounded 
by beauty, and the importance of attractive surroundings in 
legislative work should not be overlooked. The elevating in- 
fluence and inspiration of such an environment are often uncon- 
sciously reflected in the law. 

In this pediment we have the artist's dream of the grandeur 
of the arts of agriculture and the industries prospering under 
the conditions of peace. 

In these days of almost universal war and horrors that have 
spread over three great divisions of the earth, of a war that has 
even colored the waters of American seas vnth the blood of 
men, it is pleasant to turn to the contemplation of the peaceful 
arts, the things by which nations are built up instead of being 
destroyed. 

Let us all therefore rejoice in the thought that this work of an 
American sculptor, under the direction of the American Con- 
gress, will give pleasure and profit to untold generations of free, 
happy, American citizens. [Applause.] 

Next on this program is the unveiling of the statuary, which 
will be followed by an address by the author of it, Mr. Paul W. 
Bartlett. 

[The unveiling of the statuary then took place.] 

Mr. Slayden. Ladies and gentlemen, I have nov/ the pleasure 
of presenting to you Mr. Paul W. Bartlett, sculptor of the 
pediment statuary. 



ADDRESS OF PAUL W. BARTLETT 

SCULPTOR OF THE PEDIMENT STATUARY 



Mr. Chairman, Gentlemen of the Senate, Gentlemen op 
THE House, Ladies and Gentlemen: 

IT IS certainly very unusual for an artist to be invited to 
speak at the unveiling of his own production, but this 
ceremony is unusual in so many ways that I hope I may 
be forgiven for having accepted the invitation. 

To be able to leave one's imprint in sculpture on the noblest 
building of this country is a great honor. 

To have the opportunity to make an effort to add to its 
grandeur and beauty is, without doubt, a rare privilege. 

It has also been a great responsibility, and you may well 
believe that the responsibility of this privilege has never been 
forgotten for a moment during these long years of work and 
study. 

The preliminary negotiations concerning this undertaking 
brought me in contact with Senators George Peabody Wetmore 
and the Hon. Samuel W. McCall, chairmen, at that time, of the 
Senate and House Committees on the Library. 

When we came to discuss the subject or theme to be repre- 
sented on the pediment, I was told that there was a vague feel- 
ing in the committee that the subject should be taken from the 
history of the United States. 

We came, however, to the conclusion that the theme should be 
of the present rather than of the past. 

We thought, because the House represents in its largest sense 
the people, that the people — the life and labors of the people — 
should be portrayed on this building, this temple of democracy. 
Hence this conception. 

An allegorical group consisting of two figures, "Peace pro- 
tecting Genius," fills the center of the pediment. "Peace," an 
armed "Peace," stands erect, draped in a mantle which almost 
completely hides her breastplate and coat of mail; her left arm 
rests on her buckler, which is supported by the altar at her 
side; in the background the "olive tree of peace." Her right 

13 



] 4 Unveiling of the Statuary of the Pediment 

arm is extended in a gesture of protection over the youthful and 
winged figure of "Genius," who nestles confidingly at her feet 
and holds in his right hand the torch of "Immortality." The 
composition is completed by two other groups, symbolizing 
and typifying the two great fundamental powers of labor, the 
two great sources of wealth — Agriculture and Industry. 

The most modest of our farmers and laborers can find in 
these groups the symbol of his own self and of his endeavors. 
He may even find his own resemblance there, and he will see 
that his helpmate, his children, his cattle, and the hai-vest of 
his fields have been exalted and carved in marble forms on the 
Capitol of the United States. The printer, the iron and steel 
worker, the founder may do the same and enjoy the same pro- 
found satisfaction. The toiling factory girl, spinner or weaver 
of textiles, will observe that she has not been forgotten, and 
those who are devoted to the sea can discover a group which 
will remind them of the joys of their vocation. 

A wave terminates the sculpture at either end of the pedi- 
ment, and is meant to indicate that all this humanity, all its 
power and energy, are comprised between the shores of two 
oceans — the Atlantic and the Pacific. 

So much for the poetic and philosophic. 

Permit me now to say a few words about the technique: For 
a real artist every new subject, every new undertaking, is a 
new problem and requires a new solution, adapted, of course, 
to the special characteristics of the case in hand. Any art 
which is not based on this principle is not a "living" art. 
Any effort to use an old solution for a new problem is the admis- 
sion of artistic impotence, and the artist in so doing not only 
eludes the difficulties of his new problem but also loses his 
opportunity to discover, perhaps, some new form of beauty. 

Now, one of the important problems to be solved in this 
case was the amalgamation of the living forms of to day with 
the classic details of a semiclassic style. 

In using our brawny types of men and women from factory 
and field, in modeling their simple working clothes, it was 
necessary to execute these figures in such a manner that they 
should not conflict with this distinguished but rather delicate 
architecture. It was necessary that they should have a dis- 
tinctive decorative character, in harmony with their immediate 



of the House Wing, United States Capitol 1 5 

surroundings. Too much realism would have been ugly; too 
much classicism would have been fatal. 

Usually pediments are composed for a general front view, 
and are approached by a spacious avenue forming a vista. 
This happens here only for the central pediment. The fact 
that this building has such a wide fa?ade and three pediments, 
that it is generally approached by the sides, and that a person 
standing on the plaza has a slanting view of at least two pedi- 
ments, changes entirely the ordinary scheme and has necessi- 
tated a new principle of composition. The means employed to 
meet this contingency are not very visible from the plaza — they 
were not meant to be visible — but great care has been used in 
the effort to make the side views equal in interest to the full 
front view. 

There were other problems, such as the scale and grouping of 
the figures, the spacing of the groups, and so forth, of which I 
will not speak. Suffice it to say that with time and study they 
were solved to my satisfaction. The method of work was as 
follows: First a small sketch was made, then a larger one, and 
then another. These were changed, figures were taken away 
and others put in their places, so on and on in a continual 
effort to improve the scheme until the final models were fin- 
ished, ready to be carv^ed in marble, erected, doweled, and 
cemented in place. 

Permit me now on this momentous occasion to sincerely thank 
the Committee on the Library for their confidence, and for 
having permitted me to carry out this work in my own way 
and within my own time, 

I also desire to express my appreciation for the kindness and 
intelligent interest which has been bestowed upon me by Mr. 
EUiott Woods, Superintendent of the Capitol, and by his collabo- 
rators. They have never failed me since I first met them in 
1909. 

Mr. SivAYDEN. Ladies and gentlemen, a few minutes ago my 
friend Mr. Mann pointed to the pediment and said that that was 
the pi^ce de resistance, as they call it out in Illinois; but I knew^ 
just what it was to be — fi.rst, the speech of Mr. Bartlett, and 
then that of our distinguished Speaker, the Hon. Champ Clark, 
who will now address you. [Applause.] 



ADDRESS OF HON. CHAMP CLARK 

OF MISSOURI 

IvADiES AND GknTlemen: 

MR. Chairman SlaydEN and Mr. Bartlett, the dis- 
tinguished artist, have so thoroughly described the 
beautiful statuary that it would be superfluous to say 
anything more about that. It is universally conceded that 
Washington is the finest capital city in the world. [Applause.] 
The United States has the largest homogeneous population of 
all the nations of the earth. We have the most stately Capitol 
Building in the world, which has become the model for capitol 
buildings everywhere. 

I, as Speaker of the House of Representatives, accept this stat- 
uary on behalf of the Congress and the people. This is the 
finishing touch to the Capitol Building, and especially to the 
House of Representatives. The first man who ever lifted up 
his voice in an oratorical way in the splendid Hall of the House 
was Samuel Sullivan Cox, popularly named "Sunset Cox," of 
Ohio, in 1857; and if all the oratory that has been uttered in it 
since were printed in books the world would hardly contain 
them. [Laughter.] 

The Constitutional Convention was the wisest set of men that 
ever met under one roof. [Applause.] The wisest thing that 
they did was to divide the governmental machinery of this coun- 
try into three separate departments. The next wisest was to 
divide the Congress into two branches. Some lady asked George 
Washington at a great dinner what the Senate was created for, 
and why they had two legislative branches instead of only one. 
He said that the Senate would perform the same function for 
legislation that a saucer did for tea, that they would pour the hot 
tea of the House into the saucer of the Senate to cool off. 
[Laughter.] Evidently Gen. Washington was not up to date in 
pink-tea etiquette or he would not have said anything about 
pouring your tea into a saucer. 

This Republic is the only real republic that ever existed on 
the face of the earth. [Applause.] We talk about the republics 

17 



1 8 Unveiling of the Statuary of the Pediment 

of Greece and Rome, and the rest of them. They were simply 
oligarchies. The intricate and delicate and elaborate system 
of checks and balances in our system of government is what has 
preserved it to the present day, and what will preserve it, let us 
hope, for all time to come. [Applause.] 

The idea of free government is not new. We did not originate 
it. We have developed it and put it into practice. It has been 
in the minds of men from a time whereof the memory of man 
runneth not to the contrary. Whoever wrote the Shakespeare 
plays put these words into the mouth of Brutus in his speech 
defending himself for the assassination of Caesar : 

Here comes liis body, mourned by Mark Antony; who, tliougli he had 
no hand in his death, shall receive the benefit of his dying, a place in the 
commonwealth; as which of you shall not? 

There is the case in a nutshell, the essence of representative 
government — "a place in the commonwealth." 

When Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg called the first House 
of Representatives to order he presided over 56 men. North 
Carolina and Rhode Island had not gotten in then. When they 
did come in, they increased his little flock to 65. I preside over 
435 Representatives, 2 Territorial Delegates, and 3 Resident 
Commissioners. A couple of years ago they rededicated the 
old Congressional Hall in Philadelphia, after having fixed it 
up handsomely. President Wilson and myself made speeches. 
Going over there I figured it out that if we had the same ratio 
for Representatives now that we had under the first census and 
the same population that we have now, we would have 2,776 
Members in the House of Representatives. This is one index 
to our marv^elous growth. 

The legislative body in every free country is the most impor- 
tant of the three branches — judicial, legislative, and executive. 
We come from the people, we represent the people, and we 
reflect the will of the people. [Applause.] I undertake to say 
without fear of successful contradiction that when the American 
people make up their minds that they want a thing the Congress 
will grant it to them as soon as it finds out that the people 
desire it. I think the Congress of the United States is the 
greatest legislative body that ever was on the face of the earth, 
and I take pride in that fact. Yet every evil-disposed person 



of the House Wing, United States Capitol 19 

in the land can find some slander to utter about the American 
Congress. They revel in such foul work. It puzzled me a long 
time to find out why certain people, who could pass a great tariff 
bill overnight, or enact any other great measure while you wait, 
did not come down here and get into Congress and do those 
things. Finally one of them came into my room one day and 
was intimating that we were a lot of chuckleheads, and I said 
to him, "It has always surprised me that men like you, who 
know everything, who can do everything without any considera- 
tion, do not break into Congress and do it." He said, "Well, 
everybody does not want to come to Congress." I repUed, 
" There are not a thousand men in America who would not come 
to one House or the other of Congress if they could get here." 
I said, " I will tell you why you don't come into Congress. You 
don't come down here because you can't get votes enough." 
[Laughter.] 

Each one of these three departments ought to attend strictly 
to its own business. [Applause.] It would make a very inter- 
esting theme for a speech, if I had time to make one, to show 
how the balance of power has oscillated between the executive 
and the legislative. Sometimes the legislative has reduced the 
executive to a nullity, and sometimes the executive has come 
close to reducing the Congress to a nullity, but in the course of 
time these things even themselves up. 

How many new propositions do you suppose our system of 
government rests on ? On three. There are two of them in the 
Declaration of Independence and one in the Constitution. "All 
men are created equal." That is one of them. "All govern- 
ments derive their just powers from the consent of the gov- 
erned." That is two, and they form the basis of republican 
institutions. The third one is — hardly anybody ever reads it^ 
the preamble to the Constitution, one of the finest sentences 
ever written, and one of the most comprehensive: 

We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, 
establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common 
defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to 
ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for 
the United States of America. 

[Applause.] 



20 Unveiling of the Statuary of the Pediment 

There it all is. That is our chart and our creed. What court- 
ship is to marriage, what the flower is to the fruit, what youth 
is to manhood, that is what the Declaration of Independence is 
to the Constitution of the United States. [Applause.] Since 
Washington on Yorktown's blood-stained heights made good 
Jefferson's declaration thrones have been crumbling, crowns have 
been tumbling, and dynasties have been fleeing for their lives. 
[Applause.] 

When our fathers proclaimed this Republic at Philadelphia, 
on the 4th of July, 1776, there was only one other Republic on 
the face of the earth — Switzerland — and the fathers were not 
certain that tliis one would live until Christmas. It was an 
even break whether it would or not. Now, thanks be to 
Almighty God, there are 26 Repubhcs in this world. [Applause.] 
In a very large sense we made them, every one. Mark Twain, 
the greatest Missourian that ever lived, and the greatest literary 
American that ever lived [applause], once said, "Blessed be the 
man who bloweth his own horn, lest it be not blown." 
[Ivaughter.] 

That dictum of the great Missourian applies to nations as well 
as to individuals. We did it — not by the mailed hand, not by 
conquering armies. We did it by the wholesomeness of our 
example [applause], by teaching all creation that men can 
govern themselves. Why, before that it was supposed that 
power descended from on high and lighted on the heads of a 
few tall men, and then a Httle of it trickled down to the great 
body of the people below. We reverse all that. We make it 
begin at the bottom and, like the sap in the trees, go up, and it 
will go up forever. [Applause.] 

Not a single one of these vSouth American or Central American 
Republics could have existed six months if it had not been for 
us. Some of them could stagger along now, maybe, but I am 
not certain about that. We gave them a breathing spell. We 
gave them a chance to live. What did it? The Monroe doc- 
trine. I am not going to expand on that. What is it? The 
simplest proposition ever put into print, that we would regard 
the establishment of its system of government by any European 
nation in this hemisphere as an unfriendly act. That was a 
very modest declaration, was it not ? We were a modest people 



of the House Wing, United States Capitol 2 1 

then. [Ivaughter.] We have outgrown our modesty. But the 
Monroe doctrine has grown with our growth, and strengthened 
with our strength, until to-day it is this : That for pohtical pur- 
poses we hereby take the entire Western Hemisphere under the 
shadow of our wing, and warn the nations of the earth not to 
touch the least of these Republics south of us, lest they die. 
That is the Monroe doctrine. [Applause.] We do not want 
their territory or their land. We propose that they shall be 
free, because we intend to remain free ourselves. 

Col. Roosevelt in one of his books says that James Monroe 
was a mediocre President. Col. Roosevelt — I am very fond of 
him personally — will be lucky if he finally secures as high a 
place and as great a space in history as James Monroe does. 
[Applause.] I like Roosevelt's style sometimes. He went 
down to Chile and proclaimed the Monroe doctrine there much 
as I have proclaimed it here, and he came near getting mobbed. 
I suppose that is what he was after. [Laughter.] 

Certain dilettante writers and speakers who say the Monroe 
doctrine is played out are mistaken. They do not know what 
they are talking about. We will strengthen it and preserve it. 
It is the political life preserver of the Western World, I like 
to say a good thing about a Republican when I can find one who 
deserves it. [Ivaughter.] I like to think about what one Sec- 
retary of State did under the Monroe doctrine. William H. 
Seward, a great man. Secretary of State under Lincoln and 
Johnson, came very near being President in i860, but not half 
as near as I did in 191 2. [Laughter and applause.] When we 
had our Civil War we did not have any time to attend to any- 
body else's business. We had hardly enough to attend to our 
own. 

Louis Napoleon, the nephew of his uncle, the Emperor of the 
French, the greatest monarch then on earth, with his arms glit- 
tering from China to Peru, concluded it was a good time to 
smash the Monroe doctrine, sent over the Archduke Maximilian, 
set him up on a tinsel imperial throne, clapped a tinsel imperial 
crown on his head, and backed him up with 80,000 French 
bayonets under Marshal Bazaine. They were getting along 
tiptop until we made peace among ourselves. Immediately 
William H. Seward sent word to Louis Napoleon that it was high 



22 Unveiling of the Statuary of the Pediment 

time to get out of Mexico, and not stand on the order of his 
going — and he went Hke the devil was after him. [Applause and 
laughter.] 

That is what a Republican Secretary of State did. Nobody 
ever tried to violate the Monroe doctrine after that until Great 
Britain undertook to steal a piece of Venezuela, and Grover 
Cleveland shook his fist in the face of the British hon and for- 
bade him to put his paw on Venezuela, and>he did not do it. 
[Applause and laughter.] That is what a Democratic President 
did. At that time we did not have a battleship to our name, 
but Johnnie Bull knew where we could get them if we wanted 
them; he knew we had the stuff to buy them with; he wisely let 
us alone; and from that day to this nobody has ever tried to in- 
fringe on the Monroe doctrine. Those are two of the proudest 
chapters in our history — one written by a RepubHcan Secretary 
of State, the other by a Democratic President. 

A great many people make a mistake as to where the Une of 
demarcation is between a free cotmtry and a despotism. It is 
as plain as the nose on your face when once correctly stated. 
Most people think if there is a hereditary head to the govern- 
ment it is necessarily a despotism, and that if there is an elec- 
tive head it is necessarily free. That has not a thing in the 
world to do with it — not a thing. A country can be just as free 
with a hereditary head as it can be with an elective president, 
provided it has the right sort of a constitution. I will tell you 
where the Une of demarcation is. Any country that has a legis- 
lative body which controls the purse strings thereof is free, and 
if it has not it is not free. Out West where I hve — I do not 
know whether it has percolated to the East or not — there is a 
saying "that money makes the mare go." 

Money makes the Government go, and if we should refuse to 
appropriate the money to run this Government, it would stand 
stock-still at midnight on the 30th day of next June. Patriots 
would not run it, most of them, without they got their pay. It 
makes no difference what we call it. We call our legislative 
body the Congress. When people get mad at Congress, and can 
not find anything else mean to say, they say we talk too much. 
Well, I used to be rather incHned to think sometimes that the 
Senate does talk too much [laughter]; but I have somewhat 



of the House Wing, United States Capitol 23 

changed my notion about that. There ought to be some place in 
this Government where a thing can be really and thoroughly and 
minutely discussed. Now, if the Senate will let us go home right 
away, I will add some other compliment to that. [Laughter.] 
Those people who growl about Congress talking too much had 
better get out their dictionary and study it a little. What do you 
suppose the word "Parliament" means in the dictionary sense? 
That is the oldest legislative body in the world. It literally 
means a talking body. Bless your souls, that is what it was 
elected for, to talk; not to indulge in fooHsh talk, but to talk 
about the principles of government, the business of the country, 
and things like that. In France it is called the Assembly, in 
Germany the Reichstag, in Scandinavia the Storthing, and down 
in Bulgaria it is the Sobranje. There have been three half-baked 
Dumas up in St. Petersburg. Somebody will say they ran them 
out. Of course they did. That is the history of legislative 
progress the world over. How many Parliaments were run out 
of Westminster before they found one that could stay there in 
spite of the king ? What was the American Congress during the 
Revolution? It was a legislative body on v/heels, and it met 
where the British soldiers were not. That was the mode of 
its being. I am not a prophet or the son of a prophet, or the 
seventh son of a seventh son, but I will risk one prediction: 
Within less than 20 years they will have a Duma at St. Peters- 
burg that will stay there until it gets ready to leave, or the 
people of that country will run the Czar and the grand dukes 
out of Russia. That has been the history of such transactions 
since the world began. 

What a fine thing it is to be an American — how glorious, how 
inspiring. 

Those of you who read the Bible — and I hope you all do — 
remember that after Paul had been bound the chief captain 
ordered the centurion to take away him and scourge him. Paul 
took a flank move on him. Of course I am giving a free trans- 
lation. I have always believed that Paul would have made one 
of the most skillful politicians and lawyers that ever lived. 
Paul said to the centurion who was about to scourge him: 
"Is it lawful to scourge a Roman citizen?" That question 
scared the centurion half to death. He rushed off to the chief 



24 Unveiling of the Statuary of the Pediment 

captain as hard as he could clatter, and said: "You had better be 
careful; that man is a Roman citizen," which startled the chief 
captain greatly — startled him so that Paul was not scourged. 

When that transaction took place Rome was mistress of the 
civilized world. 

The power and dignity inherent in Roman citizenship were 
demonstrated by the terror which seized those who intended to 
scourge him, w^hen he invoked that citizenship. 

It was a great boon to be a Roman citizen when Rome v/as in 
the plenitude of imperial power; but it is a far greater boon 
to be a plain American citizen, heir of all the ages. [Applause.] 

Ladies and gentlemen, everybody has something to do in this 
world, if he could find out what it is. Our mission in the 
world has been to carry government of the people, by the people, 
and for the people to the ends of the earth as missionaries 
therefor, and we have worked at it faithfully. We divide into 
parties on domestic issues. It is a very good thing that we 
do, so that one may watch the other; but when it comes to 
questions that affect the honor, the glory, the prosperity of the 
American Republic, ,we are one. [Applause.] I am happy to 
give it as my opinion that the people in this country who are 
not thoroughly patriotic, who would not be absolutely true if 
the supreme test should come, do not constitute one-tenth of i 
per cent of the 100,000,000 people betwixt the two seas. [Ap- 
plause.] We are supposed to have different ways of explaining 
and expressing our patriotism. We here and now finish the 
Capitol Building. May it stand forever as the emblem and 
symbol of a free people, and may our missionary work never 
end until all people everywhere are free. [Applause.] 

Mr. Si^AYDEN. Dr. Prettyman, Chaplain of the Senate, will 
pronounce the benediction. 



of the House Wing, United States Capitol 25 



BENEDICTION BY REV. FORREST J. PRETTYMAN, D. D. 

CHAPLAIN OF THE SENATE 



1^ "YOW may the peace of God, which passeth all understand- 

I V ing, keep your hearts and minds in ihe knowledge and 

love of God and of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord; and the blessing 

of God Almighty, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be with us all, 

now and forever. Amen. 



H. Doc. 1354, 64- 




DESCRIPTION OF THE STATUARY OF THE PEDIMENT 

AN allegorical group of two figures, "Peace protecting 
/-\ Genius," fills the center of the pediment. "Peace," 
"*- -^ an armed "Peace," stands erect, draped in a mantle 
which almost completely hides her breastplate and coat of 
mail; her left arm rests on her buckler, which is supported 
by the altar at her side; in the background the "olive tree 
of peace." 

Her right arm is extended in a gesture of protection over 
the youthful and winged figure of "Genius," who nestles confid- 
ingly at her feet and holds in his right hand the torch of 
"Immortality." 

The composition is completed by two other groups, sym- 
bolizing and typifying the two great fundamental living 
powers of labor, the two great sources of wealth — Agriculture 
and Industry. 

The most modest of our farmers and laborers can find in 
these groups the symbol of his own self and of his endeavors. 
He may even find there his own resemblance, and he will see 
that his helpmate, his children, his cattle, and the harvest 
from his fields have been exalted and carved in marble forms. 

The printer, the ironworker, the founder, can do the same, 
and enjoy the same profound satisfaction. The toiling 
factory girl, weaver or spinner of textiles, will observe that 
she has not been forgotten, and those who are devoted to the 
sea can discover a group which will remind them of the joys 
of their vocation. 

A wave terminates the sculpture at either end of the pedi- 
ment, and is meant to indicate that all this humanity, all its 
power and energy, are comprised between the shores of the 
two oceans — the Atlantic and Pacific. 

[Extract from Mr. Bartlett's speech.] 

27 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




014 369 102 C 



